WWII babies fathered by German soldiers in occupied Europe

Paula Stuart-Warren  Germanic Research, Research, World War II  Leave a comment

Today’s Washington Post carries a sobering story about a search for identity by children whose fathers have turned out to be German soldiers. As the Post says “Historians estimate that more than 800,000 children were born to German soldiers enforcing the four-year Nazi occupation of Europe, about 200,000 in France alone.”

For one of the men his search for his father was a “decades-long search, of harassing German archivists, of begging historians for clues, of following false leads.” Many of the children did not know about their heritage for most of their lives. It sounds much like the frustration of adult adoptees trying to find their own birth parents.

Those 7,000 books will have a home!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Libraries  Leave a comment

Back on October 30th, I reported on the the Sequoia Genealogical Society’s collection of 7,000 books that was not going to be included in the new Tulare, California library building. Click here to read that posting.

Last evening, the Tulare City Council stated support for housing the collection in the new library building. It will still require a council vote next week but it looked good after two hours of comment! “The collection belongs to the city,” Councilman Richard Ortega said. “It’s our responsibility to see it’s well kept.”

Read the update in the Visalia Times-Delta by clicking here.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Christmas Cards

Paula Stuart-Warren  Christmas, Fisher, Rohr, Slaker  Leave a comment

My mother always sent Christmas cards and I loved those that arrived at our house when I was growing up. I loved to look at the return addresses and see where people lived. Very few people included a letter telling about their year and the family. Now when I receive one of those from a relative I read every word — looking at it from a genealogical standpoint. It’s amazing how much detail can be found in them. So, don’t groan when you receive one of those — just be ready to cull info from it. Those births, deaths, marriages, divorces, graduations, and illnesses can all find a place in your genealogy software!

For most of the years I was married, I always sent cards and kept my list from year to year. In fact, I still have those lists. What a kick (and sad at the same time) to go back and remember neat people that are no longer on this earth.

I am lucky to have two Christmas single sided postcard size cards that a relative Marie Slaker sent to her son and daughter in 1915. This is a collateral line and I am not quite sure which Marie it is. The cards don’t have the names of the son and daughter!

I also have a card sent to someone in the family by William H. Rohr of Watertown, Wisconsin. No year is given but he died in 1919. He is the half-brother of my Great Great Grandmother Marie
(Fisher) Slaker.

NHPRC recommends 2.9 million in grants

Paula Stuart-Warren  National Archives  Leave a comment

This press release just came from the U.S. National Archives. It will be interesting to see how the projects pan out over time.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2009
COMMISSION RECOMMENDS $2.9 MILLION IN GRANTS
FOR DOCUMENTARY EDITING AND ARCHIVAL PROJECTS

Washington, D.C*. New Archivist of the United States David Ferriero ended his first full week on the job by chairing the meeting of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), celebrating its 75th anniversary. At its meeting, the Commission recommended to the Archivist 32 grants totaling $2.9 million for projects in 20 states and the District of Columbia. These recommendations include grants for digitizing historical records, electronic records preservation, and historical documentary editions.

Grants totaling $1.6 million were recommended for 11 publishing projects from the U.S. Colonial and Early National Period, and three additional publishing projects received Commission endorsement. A grant to the Wisconsin Historical Foundation will support the 39th annual Institute for Editing of Historical Documents, which provides training for new documentary editors. Seven new volumes of documentary editions received subvention support for print editions.

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College received a grant to develop a virtual laboratory to support instruction in electronic records management, and the University of Denver will undertake a two-year project to develop and test open source records managements software called Liaison. Seven digitization projects were recommended, including the Historic African American Education Collections in Atlanta and New York’s Colonial Council Records, 1664-1781. Mount Holyoke College, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Hawaii State Archives received funding to establish electronic records programs, and Michigan State University will begin Spartan Archive to manage the university’s institutional memory through electronic records management archives. View the full list of recommended grants at http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2010/nr10-28.html.

Kathleen Williams, Executive Director of the NHPRC, presented the grant applications and policy issues to the full Commission. The Commission welcomed its newest member, Washington State Archivist Jerry Handfield, who represents the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators. Commission members also heard a presentation by John Nemmers, a Descriptive and Technical Services Archivist at the University of Florida Libraries, on the progress of “America’s Swamp,” a digitizing project on the history of the Florida Everglades, funded by the Commission.

Archivist David Ferriero is the Chairman of the Commission, which includes representatives from all three branches of the Federal government as well as the leading archival and historical professional associations. The NHPRC is the grantmaking arm of the National Archives. It is the sole federal funding agency whose only focus is the documentary heritage of the United States. Established in 1934, the NHPRC awards grants for preserving, publishing, and providing access to vital historical documents.

Century Farms: Montana now recognizes

Paula Stuart-Warren  Century Farms  1 Comment

The Montana Historical Society has just created the Centennial Farm and Ranch Program, joining similar programs in other states. The new program, at the direction of the Legislature, is “to identify and honor the families that have kept a farm or ranch for 100 years or more.” As in other states, the designation requires that a farm or ranch must have stayed in the same family and been passed down through “spouses, children, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces or adopted children in a continuous sequence of ownership.” The Billings Gazette states: “The form is detailed and includes questions about the history of the farm or ranch and the people who lived on it.” That last sentence is what family historians want to hear. Click here to read the article. 
What is a Century Farm? In general, it is a farm in which ownership has stayed in the same family for a designated length of time such as 100 or 200 years or for operation since the formation of a state or county, province, or other milestone. Such programs exist across the U.S. and Canada. Even New Zealand honors Century Farms. Another requirement might be that the farm must be a minimum size or have a minimum farm, animal, crop, or other product output. 
What might Century Farm records hold for you? In many cases the programs add new farms and families each year. The applications range from a few line statement to special multi-page forms which require documentation. In most cases, these are programs not created by genealogists, but the records and clues provided are valuable in our research as the cart below shows. Not all applications have survived once the award was granted. In Minnesota, the older forms are housed at the Minnesota Historical Society. 
What might you find in such old forms? Family photos, original and then current farm acreage, legal description of land, photos of buildings, detailed genealogy, list of owners from past to present, name of original owner(s) and spouse, relationships of each to present owner, land abstract, how purchased, tax records, date land purchased, date and birthplace of original owner, deeds (including copies of originals held by family), past and current farm crops and products, place original owner first lived, original cost of farm, and even the names of the children of the original owner. .
Who or what operates the program? It might be run by a state or county fair, state agricultural society, the Grange, a private group, a farming industry magazine, state level agriculture department, farm extension agency, or other organization. The earliest program I have found is New York in 1937 with many of the honored farms dating back to the 17th century. Oregon’s began in 1958 just prior to the state’s centennial in 1959. North Carolina’s awards began in 1970. Many of the programs in the U.S. began at the time of the 1976 Bicentennial of the country. Some farming-related magazines publish yearly updates of farms added. As of 1986 there were 783 Century Farms in Tennessee. Iowa had over 8,000 century farms in 1985; today there are more than 15,000 in Iowa. 
Locating the records. Not all programs make the applications available for research. Older applications might be found in a variety of places: state and local archives, historical societies, large public library, or a university library special collections department. With so many repository catalogs online it is relatively easy to check for a location of older applications. A program may have an online listing of the honored farms or an index might be found via USGenWeb.com. If there is no website for a state’s program, check agricultural magazines, rural newspapers, and the state’s genealogical and historical periodicals. 
Some websites to check out
Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award
www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv51
Marathon County, Wisconsin
http://marathon.uwex.edu/ag/awards/index.html
Minnesota Century Farms
www.fbmn.org
Missouri Century Farms
http://extension.missouri.edu/centuryfarm/
Tennessee Century Farms
http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres/ 
Selected Century Farm Publications
Baer, M. Teresa, et al., eds. Centennial farms of Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press, 2003. [Includes genealogical indexes by Ruth Dorrel.] 
Century Farms of Wisconsin. Shawnee Mission, KS: Inter-Collegiate Press, 1984. 
Gorman, Libby, et al. North Carolina Century Farms: 100 Years of Continuous Agricultural Heritage. [Raleigh, NC]: North Carolina Department of Agriculture, 1989. 
Harriger, Jean K., ed. The Century Farms of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Brookville, PA: Jefferson County Historical Society, 1988.
Kant, Joanita. A History of South Dakota Century Farms. Sioux Falls, SD: Century Farms Book Committee. Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Co., 1985. 
Ladell, John and Monica. Inheritance: Ontario’s Century Farms Past & Present. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1979.
Leonard, Deach Ford. Century Farms of Vermont. Montpelier: Vermont Hist. Soc., 1986. 
Men of the Soil: Century Farms. n.p.: Nova Scotia Rural Beatification Committee, 1970. 
Morain, Thomas J. and David Miles. Century Farms of Iowa: The History of Farming in Iowa. Dallas: Taylor Pub. Co., 1986.
Wanless, Dorothy L. Century Farms of Minnesota: One Hundred Years of Changing Life Styles on the Farm. Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Co., 1985. 
Washington’s Centennial Farms: Yesterday and Today. Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Agriculture, [1989]. 
Wermuth, Mary L. Michigan’s Centennial Family Farm Heritage, 1986: A Michigan Sesquicentennial History. Hillsdale, MI: Ferguson Communications, 1986.
West, Carroll Van. Tennessee Agriculture: A Century Farms Perspective. [Nashville, TN]: Tennessee Department of Agriculture, 1986.

Advent Calendar for Geneabloggers: The Christmas Tree

Paula Stuart-Warren  Advent Calendar, Christmas  Leave a comment

Christmastime has always been important in our family. As my children were growing we started some traditions. I had traditions as I grew up. Over the next few weeks I will share some of these as part of the days leading up to Christmas. I know that both the immediate and extended family will remember some of these things. I wonder what they will be saying about my Christmas trees over the years?

For Geneabloggers, the December 1st topic is the Christmas Tree. This is a perfect topic for my family.

Growing up we always had to have perfect trees. Mainly this was my Mother, but my Father was no slouch in that department. We looked and looked for the tree. Many years it was at a tree lot at Snelling and St. Clair avenues in St. Paul — at the edge of the Macalester College campus. If the tree wasn’t perfect in all ways, we had to get extra boughs to fill in the blank spots. My family members will laugh if they recall Mom sitting on the couch directing the way the tree was put into the stand, where the extra boughs were put in a hole drilled by my Dad. Then the ornaments. We did have some beautifull glass ones. We were allowed to hang most of them, but Mom had to supervise so they were in the right place. Then the lights and tinsel. They had to be placed perfectly and each strand of tinsel had to be smoothed flat with your fingers. The picture above is from 1957. Pay attention to the Santa in the upper left hand corner — you will hear about it later.

The result? A wonderful looking tree that could be seen through the three huge windows of the yellow rambler at the corners of Bowdoin and Magoffin streets in St. Paul as you see in the picture above. As they got older, Mom and Dad did get an artificial tree but it was never “undecorated.” It was simply wrapped up and carried down to the basement intact. I should be honest — we did have an earlier fake tree. Really fake. Aluminum. It was the tree relegated to the basement. Ugly as all get out. Why did we have that? I have no idea. The picture of the aluminum tree is from 1962.

Privacy laws? Even for 100+ year old burials

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cemeteries, Privacy  1 Comment

Sometimes privacy laws make absolutely no sense. An article was posted on the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal‘s website today that tells the story.

Two researchers have undertaken the task of identifying the graves of men who fought in the Civil War. One in particular happens to have died at the Milwaukee Hospital for the Insane and therein lies the stumbling block. As Tom Ludka says “the last known burial was in 1914 — 95 years ago.” He is the veterans’ service director for Waukesha County. His cohort is Margaret Berres a middle school teacher and curator of the Oak Creek Historical Society.

The story is fascinating (click here to read it) and involves a family connection to what became the Pabst Brewing Company.

As the researchers tried to document the burial of the one soldier they were told they couldn’t check the hospital’s old records because of “federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rules.” The burials at the hospital’s cemetery occurred between 1880 and 1914 and likely include other Civil War vets in unmarked graves. Even though the particular soldier died over 100 years ago, they can’t check to verify this. They were also told that it was state law that prohibited them from viewing the records and that someone checked the records and all that was found was a directive to send the soldier’s body to another cemetery. Ludka and Berres believe this was not accomplished.

Different states have varied laws about such access but 100 year after a death just doesn’t strike me as a privacy issue. If this man’s information remains hidden, his burial will remain unmarked and not honored. A sad life, sad ending and continuing sadness surrounding Albert Melms who served his country, if only for a short time as a musician.

In my opinion, the records of such institutions help people understand family issues, possible mental health considerations in current family members, are an important part of social and community history, and often the people involved have not been remembered. Albert and others like him deserve to be remembered, their graves marked, and stories told.

“British Newspapers, 1800-1900 ” available for home access

Paula Stuart-Warren  Newspaper Indexes, Newspapers  Leave a comment

I love being able to sit in my home in the U.S. and read newspapers from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I have been doing this for the last couple of hours and as usually happens when I read old newspapers, I start reading everything and forget the exact thing I was searching. But I usually find things that I wish had my ancestors listed in them. The item at the right is from the Aberdeen Journal [Scotland].

A relatively new website makes these newspapers such as this one available for research right in your own home. Quoting directly from the company making this possible: “Before “British Newspapers, 1800-1900” was created, a genealogist would have to visit various libraries and scroll through hundreds of screens of newspapers on microfilm to look for this information. Now, researchers can keyword search millions of pages of text with one key stroke from the comfort of their homes, drastically reducing the time and energy needed to research family genealogy. With this new resource the task of researching family genealogy, once arduous and seemingly impossible, is now relatively easy and very exciting.”

“Gale, part of Cengage Learning, along with The British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), have made nineteenth-century British newspapers available on the internet. The database, known as “British Newspapers, 1800-1900” and available at http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/, gives users access to over two million newspaper pages from 49 different national and regional newspapers from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Chosen by leading experts and academics, the newspapers represent a cross-section of nineteenth-century society and contain illustrated materials on a variety of topics, including business, sports, politics and entertainment.”

“To make this collection available to users, Gale turned The British Library’s collection of nineteenth-century newspapers into a high-resolution digital format with searchable images. The database presents online access to a key set of primary sources for the study of nineteenth-century history. For the 49 newspapers selected, every front page, editorial, birth and death notice, advertisement and classified ad that appeared within their pages is easily accessible from what is a virtual chronicle of history for this period. Users of the database can search every word on every page.”

Among the features I used on the website:

  • Short history of the individual newspaper
  • Short history of British newspapers in general which has sources cited!
  • Searched all newspapers for an uncommon surname
  • Searched a specific newspaper for a surname within a range of years
  • Searched for names in a specific newspaper
  • Searched for a surname and a city in the U.S.
  • Searched for a surname and a city in Scotland
  • Checked my search history
  • Printed an article (also could have downloaded, saved, or emailed it)
  • Browsed the alphabetical list of publications
  • Checked the map showing what cities’ newspapers are included

While I didn’t find anything on direct ancestors I found some articles that relate to possible collateral lines. I also gained a feeling of the social history of the years I searched. The articles loaded quickly.

Among the types of articles I saw:

  • Lists of births, deaths and marriages from these countries
  • Some U.S. b, d, and m in these newspapers
  • Accident notices
  • Bankruptcies
  • People sentenced to jail and to gaol
  • Business partnerships dissolved
  • Politics
  • Religion

Over two million pages are included and are all fully text searchable with keywords in context visible in the results list. Access cost:

  • A 24-hour pass for £6.99 that provides you access to 100 articles over that period. [ca. $11.52 US]
  • A 7-day pass for £9.99 that provides you access to 200 articles over that period. [ca. $16.46 US]

A larger library, especially a university library, near you might have this database. Before visiting the library check to see who may log on to do searches.

Check out the website at http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/

WorldVitalRecords.com: Free Access to Early American Records through Nov. 30

Paula Stuart-Warren  Free, WorldVitalRecords.com  Leave a comment

WorldVitalRecords.com sent this press release.

“In honor of Thanksgiving, through November 30, 2009, we have over 200 early American databases available to the public for FREE. This free access include vital records, court and land records, and military records.”

It includes early Colonial Databases from 1607 – 1800 such as Mayflower family lineages, DAR lineages, and many other items for a total of 200 databases. Click here to see the databases. Simply click on each of the topics, Birth, Death and Marriage Records, Land/Court Records, and Military to see the material in each topic. You do not need to enter your credit card number or any personal details to access the info.